Fools Like Me
by Beckon
Summary: She needed him more than he would ever know and more than she would ever let on. It made her weak, it made her dependent, but it brought her this far; it had to mean something.


**A/N: Damn you, Guilty Pleasure... my only weakness, just damn you.**

"_Dare to love completely."_

She always thought she looked best in colors.

The black material of her uniform was easy to overlook when one considered that it was supposed to make you appear more slimming… with the exception that the heavy fabric draped completely over her slender body. Then again, when you were on duty, it wasn't supposed to matter what you looked like.

But white…

White was another story.

Fingers tugged lightly at the material, feeling the way it clung to her skin and insisted on wrapping as tightly around her as it could. It revealed every curve and contour there was, every little flaw and misshape she had to show. The occasional black stripe broke the openness the white created, making her feel as though this new… 'uniform' was more of a board than anything else; a board that could be written on, that could be changed… made out to be something new…

Something that could erase the past she was leaving behind her.

Dark eyes eventually pulled away from where she tugged at the tight gloves that dressed her fingers and looked into the clean mirror that hung in front of her. The reflection that stared back at her didn't look to be of anyone she knew…

Her black Shinigami uniform had been traded in for this one.

The white material clung tightly around her neck and melted down to her shoulders and down the length of her arms where it cut off at her thin wrists; a separate set of gloves continued on to cover every fingertip and seal her skin in underneath its protective coat. The top portion of this outfit continued down her small chest and along her curved ribcage before it glided over her flat stomach and fell loose around her hips. A small slit was made on the left side and cut back up to her waist to finish the design of a short, tunic-looking top. Paste-white stockings were pulled up her thin legs to cover even more of her skin and ended with matching sandals to finish the look.

She had even pulled her black hair down to change the lasting aspect she had from her past… keeping the short strands back, she tied them into a soft braid that barely touched the back of her neck.

This was who she wanted to be.

Right?

"_Will you follow me, Hinamori?"_

After days of thinking he had been killed, after days of wallowing in her own broken emotions and even collapsing once or twice… what else was there for her to say? She wanted to be with him again…

She remembered taking the hand he offered her and feeling the way he pulled her in against him; that familiar warmth of his embrace only pushed her emotions further and she followed him blindly. No one could have convinced her otherwise.

"_Are you going to leave me again?"_

"_I'm going to create a world for us. One where we no longer have to be apart." _

She was crazy.

But she… she loved him… and she was willing to give away everything she had just to be here with him. She needed him more than he would ever know and more than she would ever let on. It made her weak, it made her dependent, but it brought her this far; it had to mean something.

Hands moved to smooth out the outfit once more before she did a few turns to see how it looked at all angles. She frowned slightly when it appeared to tug in some areas too tightly, showing off more of those crooked flaws that she always found easy to hide. It was an odd look… why would he design outfits like these ones? They matched perfect opposites to the Shinigami uniforms, even down to the color of their socks… Where the Shinigami outfit was loose and flowing, these ones were tight and revealing; where one was black, these were white.

Perfect carbon copies to make opposites attract.

Drawing in a deep breath, she slowly turned to the door behind her… knowing well that he was just beyond it in the next room. He was waiting for her, waiting to see how the uniform would suit her. She could feel her nerves gathering in nervous bunches as they trembled underneath her skin; she tried to suppress the feelings though, figuring even a minor outbreak of sweat would show easily in an outfit like this one. Biting softly into her lower lip, she forced herself a few steps closer to the door, going step by slow step until her fingertips brushed against the cold doorknob.

Just… throw it open and walk out with some confidence…

She couldn't even take advice from herself.

Forcing herself to straighten up, she gradually turned the doorknob and pulled it from its frame, catching herself freezing at the last moment before she broke away from the new spell. Standing in the open doorway, she spotted where he was seated rather casually on a couch on the far end of the room, one leg crossed over the other as his arms draped over the back cushions. It made him appear more like the black-draped Captain she had fallen head over heels for.

That thought alone was enough to break her free as she moved away from the doorframe and into the open room. She still minded her steps and caught herself making them smaller a few times as she tried to close the space between them. Why was she so nervous? He was still the same man, right?

No… no he wasn't.

He was no longer Captain of the Fifth Division…

He was a ruler in this world, he controlled any and every creature that walked into this palace around them; he was a King, a self-made God in his own eyes. The power that resided in just one hand was enough to decimate anyone who dared to go against him. In this world, he created his own army… he fortified the heartless who lived in this world; he made them to be the killers they could be, forced them to fight until only the strongest survived.

He wasn't the same person.

But she could… she could come to accept that.

This was the world he was creating for them.

She froze slightly as she watched his eyes move up to catch her own, holding them in a stilling embrace until the corners of his lips moved up just ever so slightly. Her response was a slightly more nervous smile before she continued over to him, unable to shake the heat that rushed through her body, burning her from the inside out.

"That uniform…" he started, the slickness in his voice nearly made her melt.

His own change in appearance was a drastic one but… perhaps for the best? He shed his older, shaggy-looking exterior and replaced it with the one that was displayed in front of her. The tighter uniform showed off his easily fitted physique, displaying the round muscles of his arms and the thick curves of his abdomen; his dark-brown hair was slicked back to reveal the chiseled look of his jawline and the attractive dip of his eyelids against those dark eyes. Fingers moved to brace against his chin for a moment as the flat of his thumb moved to slowly cross over his lower lip in thought.

"Is very, very fitting for you." His words finally finished; those eyes breaking from her own for a brief moment as they fell down along the soft fabric that conformed to her slender body. "… I like it."

"That makes one of us." She remarked quietly, unable to catch herself before the words left.

The slight arch of one eyebrow hinted that she might've said the wrong words before a brief smile of amusement lifted itself. "You don't like it?"

It felt like a hot blush ran across her cheeks and she had to stop herself from reaching up to cover them. "N-no, that's not it… it's just… well it's a little tight-fitting and really gives nothing to the imagination…"

It only took a short moment before a light chuckle passed his lips. "That's why I like it so much."

"Ah! C-Captain!" she objected, knowing well her blush was doubling its shade by now.

"Ah ah, it's no longer Captain, remember?" He reminded, watching as she gave a brief nod in reply. "For you… you don't have to bother with a title."

No title? So was she just supposed to refer to him with just a name? It was no longer Captain Aizen but just… just Aizen? No, no that felt too strange to even just say in her head, let alone on her tongue. "I… I don't know if I can do that…"

"Go ahead, practice it."

Practice it?

Did he… did he really just want her to seem on equal level as him?

She frowned once more and watched as her belated reaction only seemed to humor him further. Setting her hands on her hips, she guessed she was trying to make herself appear more in control when she wasn't. "That's okay… I'll just save it for later."

His expression showed a mark of momentary surprise before it was quickly covered with an interested grin. "Is that so? Well then… I'll be looking forward to it. Practice makes perfect after all." He gave into a brief stretch before he slowly pushed himself to his feet; hands brushed the wrinkles out of his uniform before he started towards her.

There was a slightly unsettled feeling in her chest at his sudden approach but it seemed to melt away at the gentle appearance that took over. He closed the space between them easily before he reached forward and took her hands into his own. She felt the cold sense of warmth that radiated between their matching gloves and the light sense of pressure as he squeezed her hands before he slowly lifted them. It was a soft memory of their older days when he would take her by the hands and spin her around his office to the music on the radio. There was no music this time but she could still hear it in the back of her head, smiling lightly to herself as the time of past and present seemed to merge in to one. For that moment, she completely forgot about the colors of their uniforms and allowed for herself to be lost in the motion.

He spun her lightly around him and she gave away easily to his motives, feeling the way he pulled her in close for just one brief moment.

_"Is this the part where you take a bite out of my heart?"_


End file.
